Favorite Everhart medal and coin designs, part 5: The Dalai Lama medal and National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins

Updated 8/8/17 at noon to correct the statement that Don Everhart designed the obverse and reverse of the Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal. The designer and sculptor of the reverse was Joseph Menna.

The 2006 Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal

In chapter 2 (“Behind the Scenes at the U.S. Mint”) of American Silver Eagles: A Guide to the U.S. Bullion Coin Program, retired U.S. Mint chief engraver John Mercanti describes a few examples of what he considers good coin and medal designs. One of the medals he showcases is the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the Dalai Lama of Tibet. The obverse of the medal were designed by Everhart (the reverse was designed and sculpted by Joseph Menna). Mercanti writes:

The obverse is a beautiful portrait designed and rendered by Don Everhart. Don was my second in command and could model a portrait faster than anyone I ever knew. He is also one of the premier medallic artists in the industry. This is a wonderfully balanced piece. The simplicity of the reverse perfectly reflects the simple life of the Dalai Lama.

The 2006 Congressional Gold Medal for the Dalai Lama. (Hover to zoom.)

The 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins

In my 2016 book American Gold and Silver, I described a unique group of three commemorative coins:

Although the United States has issued many gold commemorative coins from 1903 to date, including dozens in the modern era since 1984, the novelty of one in particular warrants its inclusion in this chapter. In 2014 the U.S. Mint released a suite of three commemorative coins—a half dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold piece—celebrating the 75th anniversary of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. These coins are unique in that they were the first-ever curved coins produced by the Mint. Their obverses are concave, to recreate the cupped curvature of a baseball glove, and their reverses are convex, like the surface of a ball.

“These coins commemorate important aspects of American history and culture,” said U.S. Mint Deputy Director Richard A. Peterson. “This is a great way to connect with America’s pastime.” The nation agreed, with the coins making headlines from coast to coast and collectors buying more than 50,000 in total. In comparison, the Mint sold 25,000 of its 2011 U.S. Army commemorative $5 gold pieces.

On the opening day of sales, March 27, 2014, the Whitman Baltimore Coin & Collectibles Expo and the U.S. Mint Sales Center at Mint headquarters in Washington, DC, were the only two places where collectors could hand over payment and immediately receive the coins. Baseball Hall of Famer and legendary Baltimore Orioles defensive third-baseman Brooks Robinson was on hand at the Whitman Expo to celebrate the coins’ launch.

Other world mints had created curved coins before, but for the United States Mint these coins were an innovation. Don Everhart sculpted the concave baseball-glove side of the coins based on a design idea by Cassie McFarland. He designed and sculpted the convex baseball side. These coins captured the imagination of the American public and made national headlines in a way that few other modern coins have.

The coins and medals we’ve explored this week are just a sampling of Don Everhart’s work for the United States Mint. Over the course of almost 14 years he designed and/or engraved more than 100 works of art for the American people. Everyone at Whitman Publishing wishes Don a long and happy retirement—or semi-retirement, at least, as he continues sculpting and designing in the private sector while spending more free time with his family. And we extend our grateful thanks for a productive career that gave the United States many excellent coins and medals to collect and enjoy.

Comments

Sorry to immediately go off topic but the HSN coin guy is hawking the EU sets on his currently airing show for a mere $349.95. He falsely claimed that the Mint had a 4 minute sellout when, in actuality, the sets are still available on the Mint’s website.

Fun series of articles, thanks Dennis and MNB for putting these up. Don Everhart is quite the artist.

I caught up on the previous few articles, and went over to the Mint website…there are still 100+ EU sets available. I’m glad I got my 2 the first day. They haven’t arrived yet, but I’m not sure I want any more unless it would be a purchase “just in case” one of the two inbound are damaged in some way.

My one EU set arrived today. Nice coins, though on the designs with skinnier lettering (like the cent obverse and nickel reverse) the “enhancement” is barely visible. No condition issues to report.

I also ordered a couple extra Boys Town silver dollars, since I like the design (and, okay, since they might be the Lowest Mintage Ever, for at least one year). One of those arrived with a big ol’ white spot on the coin, so it’ll have to be returned for a replacement. Sigh….

I can just imagine how many deliveries of EU sets have been refused at the doorsteps of the flippers
The USM needs to be more transparent about the availability of products
I don’t believe for one minute that the reason why they have availability now is because of one large return
And because of the lack of communication–they will be bogged down processing returns

You have what appeared to be a sell out, then a couples days later the EU set is back up and days later you can still get all you want. I can’t remember that ever happening before. An explanation from the mint is necessary.

Has anyone looked closely at the LESP pictures on the web-site.
The one showing the coins overlaying each other shows a S dime and half dollar
and neatly covers up the where a mint mark would be on the Eagle.
The picture inside the packaging does not seem to show an S mint mark.
If t does not come with an S eagle then the ones in the congratulation set
would be it for the year. But it is not a clear picture.

If you only want 1 set, the mint price is around $35 (including mint shipping charge) so $40 not to have to open a mint account might be worth it to some. I guess the enterprising entrepreneurs are buying at $30, and selling at $40 and pocketing the $3-4 profit after eBay fees & shipping. There was a time in my life when I would be the one hustling to make less than that. I don’t know why everyone has such a problem with people showing initiative and taking some risk. That said, I always prefer to buy from the small guy if the price is close.

I don’t mind HSN selling the EU set for $349.95. Actually, for a graded MS70 set, it seems a bargain compared to the PCGS and NGC sets on EBAY. For us mortals to get a 10 coin set grade 70, it would cost a pretty penny.
What bugs me is the Mr. Mezak claims to be a numismatist, but keeps getting his facts wrong.
He kept saying the mint only made made one other EU Sacawagea, and no other S mint ones. We know the mint made three of them, 2014, 15, and 16, and the 2016 was an S mint.
He also said the mint put an EU dime in the March of Dimes set, but we all know it was a reverse proof.
And of course he said the set sold out in four minutes.

Took Buzz’s advice and dumped my two Falklands with Motto coins for $100. Although I saw later that one sold on Tuesday for $90, there is a seller moving 69s at $54. Better too early than too late. 39% ROI . And besides…

Tuesday, after the release of the EU set, theofie shared that he had flipped 98 sets asked if that makes him smart, or a bad guy. I was surprised only one response came in.

Any thinking person can’t help but eventually realize that this thing we do is a zero-sum game. theofie’s profits were made at the expense of another person. If you win, someone necessarily loses. It’s pretty much that way across the board. Increasingly now in every endeavor, the profit motive is revered. Even questionable places like medical care, education, and war fighting. Some call it stepping on the backs of others while others call it healthy competition, risk taking, etc. None the less, we have chosen as a society to limit this runaway impulse on occasion. When the item being flipped is deemed a necessity during an emergency the law frowns upon gougers. We all hope they are penalized for profiting immensely from water or gasoline in short supply.

The EU set is far from indispensable, lol, but it’s a rather tenuous line as to what is. This Capitalism has brought us very far, very fast , but it can lead us right down a blind alley if we are not careful.

@ So Krates Says “Any thinking person can’t help but eventually realize that this thing we do is a zero-sum game. theofie’s profits were made at the expense of another person.”

I don’t know. If someone pays their hard earned money for the EU set, they are getting something that must seem a fair value to them. Someone gets money, someone gets a EU set. Perhaps a win – win trade. Someone does not necessarily lose if both parties are happy.

But I have to disagree that if you make a few dollars here that someone necessarily loses. Any asset can be a hot potato, and you don’t want to be the one holding it when it loses value.

But if you make something on me, and I make something when I sell it, and eventually someone keeps it and it happy with it. we are all winners.

I know people say the stock market (unlike commodities) is a zero sum game, but it doesn’t quite seem right to me, even though I can’t develop a mathematical model to lock it down.

One very real critique of capitalism is that it encourages selling the public good short. The oil companies make money, and the resulting air pollution hurts everyone. Illegal fishers pull every last bluefin tuna out of the ocean to sell them to the Japanese. Capitalism absolutely needs regulation, or it will ruin us.

Believe it or not, there are studies that show quite plainly that there are many people who get more satisfaction from a product when they pay more for the product. People attach price to quality and status issues.

I’m not sure if it’s a zero-sum game but I do know that one has to become very comfortable with exploiting others for material gain. One of the great failures of Capitalism is that it is inherently amoral which promotes greed and makes people like Donald Trump wealthy and influential.

I go to Jersey a lot. Picked some great peaches and nectarines in Freehold today. Sometimes, I take the backroads through Bernardsville to Far Hills and what I call Trumplandia and through the golf course where Trump wants to be buried. It’s a beautiful area of old unpaved country lanes and large estates.

I’ve read that the lobby at Trump Tower on Columbus Circle exhibits a William Blake Proverb of Hell which says
‘The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.’

Another says ’ ‘You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough’.

Blake also wrote, “Where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on…” which I guess should call into question the artistry on coins.

I see the Dalai Lama on a medal in this blogpost and I would ask him how he felt about appearing on a coin or a medal? On the back of the gold medal it says

“Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion.”

I would just say that being “happy” with your purchase doesn’t mean you weren’t exploited. There are thousands of happy idiots who own telemarketed colorized or platinum coated crap who will never realize they are “losers” until they or their heirs walk into the LCS with their trinkets. Their ignorance doesn’t change anything, it’s actually necessary to dupe them. Of course this example is more extreme than the EU set antics, but it is essentially the same at heart.

@cagcrisp – I know you know more than I about coins, but why did the mint seem to go out of it’s way to hide the ASE in there pictures. The dime and half shows the S, but they hid the half mint mark behind them.

Headed home after spending about a week in Denver. The ANA Fair was a BLAST! Lot to do, see and enjoy. This year was memorable, with the release, unavailability, and final release of the Enhanced Set. Humorous at best. Seeing dealers hurriedly buy a product then try to get a fancy blue sky label attached to it to justify a ridiculous markup and then see.the rug pulled out from under their greedy feet was as one dealer put it ” Poetic Justice.”
I haven’t bought any yet, maybe later for stocking stuffers. They are very nice to look at, but I think the term Enhanced also applies to the price for clad.

@Old Big Bird, On the LESPS the same picture layout is used every year. The Mint shows the obverse on the ASE and since the mint mark on the ASE is on the reverse, the only way to show the mint mark would be to show the reverse. The mint mark on the Roosevelt and Kennedy both show because on both those coins the mint mark is on the obverse…

The Bill of Rights is the regulation of government, not to mention other laws enacted by the people’s Congress.

Neil Degrasse Tyson is absolutely correct that our survival as a democracy is threatened by an uniformed populace. However, neither political party seems to openly embrace this as the fundamental priority that it is.
The more that’s regulated, the less freedoms we have.
20 years ago I’d have said you’re crazy if you told me the government could require me to buy something.

This is a tautology, and not a bad thing, unless you are an anarchist (a view that is cured by education)

>20 years ago I’d have said you’re crazy if you told me the government could require me to buy something.

You pay property taxes, you are required to buy auto insurance if you buy a car, flood insurance if you buy a house in certain locations, sales taxes if we buy food.

I am not in favor of allowing health insurers to take a profit out of money spent on medical bills (the Heritage Foundation idea), but as long as the Hospitals aren’t allowed to turn people away and die in the street, YES, if you want to be a member of society, you have to share in the cost of this social goal.

When the medical community controlled medical decision making, medical care was affordable, available, and of high quality.
Since government has become involved, the greedometer has approached red line.
My family grew up poor, and we NEVER lacked quality medical care. There was no medical insurance available to my mother, yet the doctors and hospitals provided what we needed and only charged what she was able to pay.
Government controls and “social goals” have only served as a means for US, the public, to be ripped off. If you doubt this to be true, you are just not aware of what has happened in the medical field over the past half century.

Comms – I tried to return an online purchase to the DC store, and they wouldn’t take it. I believe the stores are directly govt and the online orders are contracted. I guess that matters, but it’s just one more area where they are not customer-friendly.

I’m sorry to have to say this, but your belief that you know everything you need to you about the medical system based on your experiences with your local doctors growing up is part of the problem. It is an immensely complicated subject.

I definitely wouldn’t hold myself out as an authority, BUT I think the principle is true — if you want to live in a world where people aren’t left in the streets to die, and hospitals MUST provide certain care regardless of the ability to pay (which I believe was a policy ushered in by Ronald Reagan, but I could be wrong), then all members of society have the responsibility to bear part of the cost.

I would suggest to you that the issue of what the cost is, and whether “the cost” ends up enriching people like the “Pharma Bro” is a subject that has not gotten enough attention from my friends in the GOP, because the system of making it work out correctly (or trying to) is called “regulation”.

Get on the 8 Ball if you want a 2017 APT ( American Platinum Turkey) . There are 8 left before the 1st “sell-out” occurs? Of course we would expect them to be available again…. given the current schnenigans with the 2017 EU Sets. No way can I believe they’ve actually sold anywhere close to 10,000 of those APT’s.

4 APEs & counting…..All the 2o17 EU sets you can eat, it’s a buffet! As I said before clad unc. sets are dogs to begin with now & this set, though having some appeal, is a clad set, I bought a couple after theyt returned to life, today you can still get ’99’ no problem! You can always give your extra sets to 1800KarsforKids……if they’d stop playing the commercial!!

I can think of some clad coins worth having:
Cheerios Sacagawea
Wisconsin quarter with the extra leaf
Washington dollar with no , “In God We Trust” engraved
to name a few.
In general I prefer PM but there are many collectible clad coins.
I suspect the enhanced uncirculated will have (some) people scrambling to find out if their nickel or dime rates DMPL.

Buzz,
My personal experience was just a statement of how things were in the 1950s.
Nowadays I work 5 days a week with doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in Continuing Education for recertification . So I am constantly hearing their side of the story, and , believe me, they are not thrilled. The hospitals are taking over and that only exacerbates the problems.

On coins, I have just completed my yearly study of Blue Book prices on mint sets, proof sets, bullion and Commemorative coins & sets. The results have been tragic for several years now. Commemorative collectors in general have been decimated (Teddy Roosevelt C&C being a notable exception.). And First Spouse……phhhhhhhhhf (but MAYBE Eleanor Roosevelt )

Will commems EVER make a comeback? Or is crypto currency the new “collector ” coin?

I agree that the Hospitals buying up all the physician practices is NOT a good development. Whereas there used to be independent doctors, I have noticed that affiliations with institutions has become the norm. There are a few holdout doctor’s offices, but only a few.

However, that is totally unrelated to any specific statute, and was underway long before 2008. You can’t characterize this trend in any way as having to do with the government.

On coins, commems might make a “comeback” but only because they have fallen so far down. Even though I love collecting coins, I am not betting on its future being especially strong, and I think the coin market, for anything but super-rarities where rich people try to preserve wealth, is likely to more or less track the PM market.

There are several venerable old collecting categories: comics, baseball cards, stamps, and coins. While the best material is any of those categories can still hold value, the market as a whole has fallen off a cliff for everything but coins. I think we will be the next to fall.

Commemoratives will not be making a comeback unless current values are celebrated. Specifically, commemoratives tend to celebrate/recognize things like self-sacrifice or integrity. Those are things which have fallen well out of favor in todays America. There is no honor in shooting someone with a tail light out, spending trillions on failed wars or charging a child thousands of dollars above cost for allergy medicine.

You may laugh but a Kim Kardashian (or a “You Lie” Joe Wilson South Carolina quarter) PM medal/coin would reinvigorate the hobby.

I would prefer that the mint place limits on coins for a period of 1 week to 1 month to have all collectors have a chance at buying the coin(s). Anything else implies the mint is complicit in aiding flippers. I know that others on this site may not like what I have to say because they are able to buy up to 10x items the limit even when the House Hold Limit is 1, 5 or 10 with the express intent of flipping the coins at a profit. In the long run that will turn off coin collectors.

With limits those collectors can have a chance at getting the coin at issue price and once the period is over let the flippers or others buy even more coins. I suspect the profits would be lower and the flippers would exit the market and in some cases the mint makes fewer coins & some at the mint may not like that idea.

Think I’m the true “grandpa” on this blog.
Anyhow, you may know I’m a cynic of “fake” coins and coin collecting is certainly on a death spiral since younger folks don’t use or care about coins. My college age son uses a
credit card to buy a $1.25 candy bar.
That said, my special 225th UNC set looks pretty awesome and unique and will be a winner for sure.

I received my 2wo 2017 EU sets. The coins are stunning,
especially the Kennedy Half and the Sacagawea $. They’ll
remain in OGP but if graded they would be perfect. Anyone
else care to chime in on the quality of the coins ?!

The guy who delivered my lunch did not have any change, so I took my bill back and paid in William Henry Harrison BU dollars from a fresh roll I could not sell on eBay and get more than face after fees! I still gave him a tip.

Also, I found out I won my second NLG award last week for the best article in a non-numismatic publication. Yeah!!

Finally, in other news, I sold a Pobjoy Britannia PF70 and FDI PCGS (only 40 exist) for a little over $400. It was originally $74, but I used my profits from some raw coins to cover that, so it and a 2nd 70 I am keeping for now were free. Of course after fees and taxes it will be less but I am very pleased.

Just pre-ordered two correct Britannia Rules the Waves today from Pobjoy to go with the alt issues. I admit it’s fun, and sometimes necessary to sell, but I think I’m going to enjoy holding these.

Because I had the look up what the NLG is–

The Numismatic Literary Guild, founded in 1968, is an organization made up of several hundred writers, authors, editors, publishers, photographers, catalogers, curators and other individuals from around the world who are engaged in publicizing and promoting numismatics through writing and related skills.

The Guild holds a Symposium each year on timely issues affecting its members and stages the annual Bash – which, besides the award presentation, features a lavish buffet and hobby-related skits and song parodies. The NLG also publishes a newsletter.

Well maybe then the NGL can get to the truth in this Enhanced set stuff? Because this can not be good for any of us! At first I thought it was the Russians but if that was the case we would have heard by now ? So no doubt one of the big boys attempt at bite the flippers in the buck and run? Way to go hashpole just kicked the whole hobby in the nucks. And still smiley faced I’ll bet? $600,000 just to place an order like that so not just a flipper joke smells more like insider info ! All we can hope for is the weak hands hand them back to the strong hands and we all learn from this !!! Come on mint spill the beans and knock it off . Oh we know you will and shame on you!! Good Luck To The Good In All”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>”>

While I’ve only opened and inspected one of my EU sets that came today, I must say I’m disappointed. Other than the polished stream flowing through the Ozark quarter, I see no other enhancements. (except for the polished lettering on each coin)

I wasn’t expecting the degree of effort they put into the enhanced silver eagle from a few years ago, but these coins are minimally enhanced. Maybe to keep the price so reasonable they could only do so much.
Actually the more I look at the Sacagawea reverse the nicer it’s getting, but the obverse is un-enhanced.
Maybe the next sets I open will be different – and there will be many grades and varieties of enhancement on these coins.

I like the RP Truman and the Sac $1 in its OGP set .. nicely done with the brief info .. got each of the years the Mint issued and was hoping they will issue on this year as well. But looks like, not, according to their schedule to date … (but keeping fingers crossed)

Could anyone please tell me the proper size or manufacturer number of the coin capsule designed to protect the Pobjoy mint Brittania coins? I don’t want to leave them in the plastic flips they were shipped in. I tried the H38 Collectons (too small) and the H40 silver eagle size (too big).

“Other than the polished stream flowing through the Ozark quarter, I see no other enhancements. (except for the polished lettering on each coin)”

The sets I have seen have a matte-like, flat finish. I can’t see any being PL as they are not shiny at all. That is the main “enhancement”. In addition the reverse of the quarters and the dollar has a full circle of reflective finish along the edge. As mentioned, the raised lettering is polished on all.

Regarding that free shipping offer for Presidential Dollar items, you can also order non-Presidential Dollar items in the same order and still get free shipping. As long as there is at least one item from the “Presidential Dollar” section of the catalog in your order, the whole thing ships for free.

So, if you can justify buying one item from the Presidential Dollar section, you can get free shipping on your orders until August 31.

The commemorative numbers are really ugly. A bunch of new lows look very likely. That has to be putting pressure on older issues. I guess something has to give and it looks like this series is it. Probably a doubling of sales in December as the flippers rush in hoping to clean up. Why collect an open ended series that could go on forever?

datadave,
Well, I started because I saw it as a way to cost average over the years, have history for the grandkids , and maybe get lucky with a few issues.i spent a lot trying to initially get the set up to date. Got at least 2 of everything ( I still do not have the bi-metallic.). I, like so many others, have seen our commem portfolio get decimated in the last 6 years. I haven’t sold anything, but stopped after the NPS.
I fear that our real money and fiat money will become relics which no one wants. Hey, you can triple your money with crypto currency. Digital is the new gold (silver)!

” Less than 7500 enhanced sets left. If you want one at mint price, you probably only have a day or 2 left to get them from the mint. ”

I highly doubt these things will ever disappear. Even if they do, they’ll never hold any sort of market value. Clad Coins are nothing like even Junky Silver Coins . Look at how sorry the Clad Proof Sets are.

So we know at least one dealer order of 20,000 sets was cancelled, which allowed sales to continue. There may be additional cancelations after the sales numbers were issued. Plus, there may be returns from the Denver show (beyond the EU sets, like APE).
It will also be interesting to see what the TPG submissions yield For an issue whose first cost is 10 times face, and the grading costs are 10 times first cost, any graded coins are going to be ridiculously (over)priced.
While San Francisco is well suited to produce high-quality coins, if most come back SP69, the perceived value of grading may be lost, especially for such a high cost service or low value coins.

Finally got my EU sets. They arrived at my post office yesterday then were sent to a nearby post office then were sent to a post office 45 minutes away and then redelivered at my post office this afternoon. I hate FedEx “dumb” post. There have been a few times that my post office actually returned a FedEx “dumb post” package for no reason.

This is sort of off topic but does anyone have a handle on the 2017-P Lincoln Cent? I’ve not looked for them and don’t recall seeing any. I rarely pay cash for anything so the only Cents I see are laying on the ground.

I recall hearing about some people wanting rolls of the 2017-P and I have seen offers of them for sale on websites. Here is a Coin that’s typically produced to the tune of 4 – 5 ,000,000,000 per year. OK, so split that up and I’m sure it still puts at least 2,000,000,000 coming out of the Philly Mint.

If I really want an example of the BU 2017-P Cent I’ll order a Mint Set or 2 from the US Mint . Just to start a big buzz wouldn’t it be cool to put out 225,000 – 2017-P DDO’s. Obviously it would have to be a deliberate DDO – nothing accidental at all.

@Louis: I bought a few Guardhouse double row boxes to hold my bullion silver and some guardhouse capsules for the bullion. Strange thing is the air-tite capsules fit in the Guardhouse boxes better than the Guardhouse capsules. The air-tites slide right in, the Guardhouse capsules are tight and hard to get in and out. Weird!